Friday, August 31, 2012

See here
Nothing especially notable in the way of rating changes - looks like the big winner was Edmontonian Brad Willis.
James Currie is Manitoba's newest FIDE player with an initial rating of 1972. James played 12 FIDE games in 3 weeks ! (Canadian Open and AY).
Stephen de Groot needs 3 more games, Ryne Swift 5, and Aaron Green 6.
There will be three local FIDE tournaments before the end of the year.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

I was first "introduced" to Gligo through his wonderful Game of the Month (with a great emphasis on the openings) column in Chess Life and Review in the seventies, and one of my earliest books was 'The Sicilian Defence"

Local man jailed for N.Y. attack

Alleged identity thief accused in tourist attack a Winnipegger

A man accused of a hammer attack, standing with
lawyer Alyssa Gamliel, told police he's John Yoos, but a John Yoos in
Vancouver says he's former Winnipegger Douglas Epp.

A Winnipeg man is sitting in a New York jail cell,
accused of a mysterious attack on a Spanish tourist while living under a
bogus identity he secretly stole years ago from a friend.
The tourist was beaten with a hammer as he sat on a park bench near
city hall, eating lunch with his girlfriend. Hugo Alejandre, 31, was
visiting the city from Barcelona. He suffered a fractured skull and
other serious head injuries. The story made front-page news in several
New York papers and led to an attempted murder charge being laid.

Dual citizen John Yoos thinks Epp must have taken his identity to live in the U.S.

Police, with the help of several witnesses, arrested a suspect at the
scene and identified the man as 43-year-old John C. Yoos of Brooklyn,
N.Y. But the Free Press has confirmed the man's true identity is Douglas
Epp, 39, of Winnipeg.
How and when Epp became Yoos -- and fooled authorities into believing
it -- is not exactly clear. But several clues are beginning to emerge.
The real John C. Yoos, 43, is an accomplished Canadian chess player
currently living in Vancouver. He attended high school with Epp in
Winnipeg and used to socialize with him, even after both men headed west
to B.C. in the late 1990s. But they haven't crossed paths in at least
seven years.
Yoos told the Free Press on Thursday he learned of the bizarre
situation when a friend called him Monday night, saying a man with the
same name and age had just been arrested thousands of kilometres away.
"He was kind of kidding me about it, like ha ha, what a coincidence," said Yoos.
He felt it was a little too close for comfort, especially given the
fact he admits to having an unusual name. Yoos conducted his own online
search and was stunned to see the photo accompanying the arrest story.
The tall bald man was Epp.
He immediately contacted police and learned Epp had also provided Yoos's birth date and Social Security number.
"It's clear to me now he's been living as me in the United States for
a minimum of four years," said Yoos, who is a dual citizen. "He became
me, likely so he could live in the U.S."
The case also hit home for several current Winnipeggers who also grew
up with Epp and have found themselves speaking on the phone this week
with Secret Service officials who routinely probe cases of identity
theft such as this. One of them, who didn't want to be publicly
identified, said he was stunned to see his former friend in the news
under a false name.
"It's really quite a sordid tale. Truth is stranger than fiction," the man said Thursday.
He went to school with Epp in St. James but said he lost track of him
once they graduated. He heard Epp had moved around a lot, with stops in
Vancouver and Hawaii.
He believed Epp was living "on the streets" after falling on hard
times, but said Epp would still take the time to send an annual
Christmas card to his friends. The card last December indicated Epp was
living in New York, although there was no indication what he was doing
there.
"He went off the rails a little bit, especially after his dad died years ago," the friend told the Free Press.
Epp was said to be dressed in a suit at the time of the attack, in
which the victim also suffered defensive wounds to his hands. Police and
the Manhattan District Attorney's office have said little about the
ongoing investigation or a possible motive.
"Doug was always an unstable character, very erratic," Yoos said
Thursday. "Most of his friends thought he had some psychological
problems, that he probably had some mental illness."
Epp -- still under the name Yoos -- has been remanded in custody without bail. His next court appearance is Aug. 28.
"They're definitely taking it seriously," Associated Press reporter
Jennifer Peltz told the Free Press on Thursday. She has been covering
the story from New York and expects additional charges will be laid
based on whatever the investigation reveals.
The Legal Aid Society, which is representing Epp, has declined to
comment. At an arraignment last week, lawyer Alyssa Gamliel said the man
identified in court records as Yoos was unemployed and had lived in New
York for two years. A neighbour at his Brooklyn address told the New
York Post he had lent the man a hammer a few months before.
Gamliel said her client had only one prior brush with the law, in
Hawaii in 2008. Honolulu court records show an April 2008 jaywalking
case against a man who gave Yoos's name and birth date; he gave police
an address in Haiku, Hawaii. He was fined an as-yet-unpaid $100, court
records show.

Monday, August 6, 2012

2012 August TNT
$ 15 entry fee - Prizes will be based on entries. Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM424CM42 <-click here for map4 rounds - August 7, 14, 21, 28 - (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 4 rounds)Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Tuesday
Night Tournaments are held every month of the year, (except for
November and December when things are organized a little
differently).

There is one game per week.

All of the TNTs are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes [Each player has 1 hour 50 minutes to complete their moves, the game will be be 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]

The TNTs are typically 4 round events (one game for 4 consecutive Tuesdays in the month).

Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs$15
entry fee for all , and CFC membership required[$ 20 for a
one-tournament membership or $ 49 for 12 months- new members pay only $
36 for the year for the CFC membership])

Registration for tournament -Tuesday, August 7 - approximately 6:35 pm to 6:50 pm

Registration will be cut off at 6:50 pm. (If you think you may be late, please send an email tochessmanitoba 'at' gmail.com) before 5 pm (you can try later, but the wireless access at the U may be problematic)

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM424CM42 <-click here for map

Easiest
way to get there is to take the elevator at the north end
(Ellice) to the 5th Floor(if that Elevator is operating) Otherwise,
there is an elevator just to the west of the old Bookstore location.
Our goal is to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

I missed posting this early - Jaro Czypinski told me that Jonathon Zaczek defeated a GM in Poland.

Here is Jonathon's message from May:Yes, I defeated GM
Krzysztof
Jakubowski in a rapid game. I almost beat GM Monika Socko (I was up a
clear exchange) as well but it ended in a draw. It was a King's Gambit
theme tournament which has been held for 15 years now. It was very
interesting because after 15 years the players are quite well booked up
on both sides of this opening. I went in with no preparation at all and
was basically losing out of the opening every game by at least 2 pawns
or a piece or a rook and would have to rise from the ashes by playing
desperately which made for a very fun exciting tournament.

The game against the GM looked something like this. He just played Ne7-f5:
[White "Nikachu"]
[Black "GM"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2kr1b1r/ppp2p1b/7p/q4n1P/

2BP1Bp1/4Q1N1/P5PK/2R4R w - - 0 1"]

1. Be6+ fxe6 2. Qxe6+ Kb8 3. Bxc7+ Qxc7 4. Rxc7

Bd6 5. Rxb7+ Ka8 6. Rhb1 Nxd4 7. Qc4 Bxb1 8. Rxb1 Bb8 9. Qf7 *

and
he actually lost on time. He claimed he missed Rxb7. I didn't even know
he was a GM until I looked at the player list. I knew he had to be
strong because I saw him on the top boards but I figured he was just
some FM or something.The tournament can be found here: http://www.chessarbiter.com/turnieje/2012/ti_2137/I'm also playing in this with no luck: http://www.chessarbiter.com/turnieje/2012/ti_1708/ I'm not converting winning positions very well and have ended up with a lot of draws :PUntil next Sunday I'll be playing every day in the Warsaw Open as I did last year. http://www.chessarbiter.com/turnieje/2012/ti_1500/
Also no luck. Today I was a piece up against an extremely talented (and
outrageously underrated) kid named Lukasz Jarmula. However he was able
to create a draw. I also drew some guy in the first round after I was
forced to exchange 3 pieces for a queen.

That more or less sums it up. I've beaten Bologan in blitz, Jakubowski in rapid, who's going to lose to me in classical?